On Fate and Denial
by Misura
Summary: It's not love. Definitely not. [SetoJoey]


On fate and denial

x

Warnings/notes: Kaiba/Joey, failed drabble, slightly weird.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

written at 27th december 2004, by Misura, for Clear As Blood (a.k.a. Fire Dragon of Darkness), as a small Christmas-present.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It is fate, Kaiba tells himself.

It is fate that he is lying here now, barely able to make out his clothing that lies on the floor, where he dropped it so carelessly the night before.

It is destiny that his are not the only clothes on there, that there's also a green jacket and a simple white shirt, and a pair of jeans hanging over a chair. Ironic, he thinks, how he, who is usually so ordered, hasn't managed to be so last night, while the one who is normally so chaotic has succeeded in keeping at least his trousers from getting rumpled and dirty.

Then again, he's heard that fortune has a sense of humor, so perhaps this is her idea of a joke. Not that it matters much; since this is his room, there'll be plenty of clean and neatly folded things for him to wear in the closet.

He has to get out of bed to open the curtains, to see that it'll be morning soon. The sky is turning pink, and Kaiba reflects that dawn truly makes the heavens look ugly. He much prefers the clear blue, nearly black when it's night, but gloriously bright by day.

He considers what he'll get for breakfast, whether he'll have orange-juice or coffee. He likes coffee better, if truth be told, but Mokuba has been pestering him about his needing more vitamins. Maybe he'll take both. He's heard it's not that unusual.

Still pondering this, he saunters to his closet, to pick out his outfit for today. It's Sunday, but there's a meeting scheduled anyway, so he can't dress too casual.

Kaiba sighs as he hears a sound coming from the direction of his bed, just as he is about to slip out of the door and go on to pretend it's a normal morning.

Though, really, it -is- a normal morning. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change because of it. He's not going to allow that.

The sounds rise in volume, gradually, until Kaiba feels justified in thinking of them as 'noises'. They're not words yet, which gives him a moment to hope that perhaps his accidental guest hasn't woken up after all.

"Hmm? Kaiba?"

Kaiba starts to nod, unwilling to acknowledge reality by talking to it. Then, realizing he's acting like a child that cowers under the blankets to hide from the monsters under its bed, he chooses to give a verbal reply after all.

"Yes. You're in my room. Again."

Joey grins, and Kaiba reflects that it's not like him at all to use words like 'cute' and 'adorable', not even in his mind.

"Third time this week," Joey remarks. As if that's new to Kaiba. As if Kaiba is too stupid to be aware of that fact himself. "Does this mean ... ?"

How human, Kaiba muses, to waste breath in stating the obvious yet to refrain from finishing a sentence that has no logical ending he can fathom. Of course, he is as human as Joey, but still ...

"Does this mean ... what?" he asks coldly.

"That it's true love?" Joey smiles, though the careless cheer doesn't reach his eyes. Kaiba wonders why Joey bothers to try lying and hiding behind masks if he's so bad at it. Perhaps it's because many people don't want to see what's right in front of them, because the pretty lie is more pleasant to believe in than the ugly truth.

"No," Kaiba answers, deciding he'll just have coffee for breakfast. Mokuba still whines when Kaiba orders him to eat his vegetables after all, so he has no right to criticize Kaiba's choice of drink.

"No?" Joey inquires, with one eyebrow arched, as if he's an adult trying to draw the truth out of a reluctant child. His tousled hair slightly ruins the effect though, and Kaiba has never been one to place overly much value on the opinion of parental figures anyway.

"No," Kaiba repeats firmly. "We were simply meant to be. That's all. Mere karma."

Joey laughs, bouncing slightly as he lets himself fall back on the bed.

When Kaiba leaves at last, he catches some words in between guffaws, about how only he could make a declaration of love in such a weird way. He shakes his head at Joey's foolishness; the blonde doesn't understand anything at all.

Some people truly want to be blind.

OWARI


End file.
